Good in any emergency!

The Barwon River is not generally associated with great voyages of exploration. It is after all, only a relatively short river, flowing through a predominantly inhabited landscape in a temperate climate; not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to find an Antarctic explorer, right?
Well, perhaps not recently, but in January, 1907 the future Antarctic explorer Bertram Armytage undertook a journey which saw him scull a kayak from Geelong to Barwon Heads as part of a 10 day journey around Port Philip Bay.
Armytage was a local boy, born in 1869 into the prosperous Armytage family at Wooloomanata Station near Anakie. His father Frederick William Armytage was the sixth son of George Armytage, the progenitor of one of Victoria's most successful nineteenth century dynasties.
As a young teenager, Bertram spent three years being educated at Geelong Grammar School, before transferring to Melbourne Grammar in 1885.  In what was probably his first year at the school - by then situated in Maud Street, Geelong - he would no doubt have come in contact with that champion of the Barwon and rowing enthusiast James Lister Cuthbertson about whom I have blogged previously. Perhaps it was he who first encouraged the young Armytage to develop his considerable skill with the oar as he went on to row for Jesus College, Cambridge where he "won his oars", by which I gather it was meant that he rowed in the head crew for his college.


Bertram Armytage in 1894 from the Como Collection,
National Trust of Victoria. Como in Toorak was another
Armytage property

Upon his return to Australia he spent time at Wooloomanata and then at another family property in Queensland before joining the military and serving in the Boer War as an Imperial Officer.
After the war he seems to have lived the life of a socialite in Melbourne and London, satisfying his need for action and adventure by participating in what today would be seen as endurance sports. It was in preparation for one such deer-stalking trip in the New Zealand Alps that he decided to undertake a circumnavigation of Port Philip Bay - by kayak.
The craft he had purpose-designed for the task was an early kayak based on the model of the Inuit people of the Arctic who used timber and sealskin to construct their craft. Here perhaps the similarities ended as Armytage's custom-designed kayak had curved ends described as being like an Italian Gondola and was weighted with lead, giving it self-righting properties. It had a thin timber skin and he adapted the hollow areas normally used for buoyancy, to carry equipment then, in a nod to his rowing days, he rigged a sliding seat and sculls to the craft which produced significantly greater speed than the usual paddle used with a kayak.
So, on the morning of 15th January 1907, sufficiently stocked with supplies of bananas and chocolate which he had learnt from his deer-stalking exploits were the best energy foods available, he took to the water at Point Cook and headed towards Geelong. By lunchtime he had made it as far as Little River where he stopped for a lunch of bananas before ploughing on to Point Wilson where he spent the night.


Corio Bay with the You Yangs in the distance

The next day saw him enter the inner harbour of Corio Bay at which point he decided to alter his plan to follow the line the bay, deciding instead to have his kayak transported to the banks of the Barwon from whence on the following day, he sculled his way to Barwon Heads, arriving in the early evening. He had timed his run to co-incide with high tide to ease his passage through the very shallow Lake Connewarre - I can relate to that problem! - and was apparently treated to the sight of large flocks of water birds blissfully unaware of the impending approach of the hunting season.

Lake Connewarre

No fool, he then spent a day or two running some tests on the resilience of his craft before attempting the highly risky passage across The Rip.
Having satisfied himself that with the right weather conditions and a certain amount of luck, the crossing was possible, on 21st January he set out once again, taking the very sensible precaution of leaving his luggage with "Messrs Stephens" who then guided him across The Rip in their fishing boat. Just why Armytage chose to alter his route to include the Barwon and a Rip crossing from Barwon Heads is not stated. This route was shorter than staying inside the bay and rowing around the end of the Bellarine Peninsula, but I am guessing that for the sake of an extra 20-30km, it would have been far safer to cross The Rip insde the Heads, however the safe option did not usually appeal to Armytage.
Newspaper reports describing the trip confirm that Armytage chose the more dangerous route, presumably due to the open water which also had to be crossed outside the bay. In the end, the attempt was a success and crossing The Rip itself proved less troublesome than negotiating the seas breaking over reefs off Barwon Heads.

Looking towards The Rip from Barwon Heads Bluff and the stretch of
water traversed by Armytage. The opening between Point Nepean (right) and
Point Lonsdale (left) is approximately 3.5km wide

By 4pm he had reached Sorrento, his intended destination for the day. After spending the following day there, he once again took to the water, facing difficult conditions as he made his way around the coastline. He encountered rough seas off Mt Martha, being forced to bail water out of his kayak and the stretch from Frankston to Mordialloc saw him facing a headwind and more rough water.
Finally however, on 25th January, he completed the final stage of his journey which appears to have taken him from Mordialloc, past St Kilda and then - through a thunderstorm - up the Yarra to Edward's Boathouse at Princes Bridge. Why he did not return to Point Cook which is mentioned as his starting point is not clear. Is it possible that he in fact departed the previous day from Edward's Boathouse, overnighting at Point Cook before The Argus (2nd March, 1907) takes up the tale?
Part of Armytage's intention in undertaking his journey around the bay was to improve his fitness for an upcoming deer-hunting trek in New Zealand which was to take place later in the year. On his way to New Zealand however, he got wind of an upcoming Antarctic expedition to be led by Sir Ernest Shackleton. Armytage quickly determined that he would join the party and with an introductory letter in hand, made himself known to Shackleton.


Bertram Armytage in the Antarctic

After some close questioning, Armytage was invited to join the party and given the role of assisting the geologists (including one by the name of Douglas Mawson) and of caring for the several Manchurian ponies  which were to be used by the explorers in their attempt to reach the South Pole.  The Nimrod Expedition as it was known, departed from New Zealand on 1st January, 1908. A base camp was set up at Cape Royds and "Shackleton's Hut" which still stands today, was erected. Whilst Armytage did undertake some treks during the expedition (leading at least one to the north), he was not amongst those who made the attempt to reach the South Pole. The group was unsuccessful in its attempt, however Shackleton and his companions did reach a point further south than any other explorer at that time.
 In an inverview given after the party's return, Shackleton himself described Armytage as "loyal, serious and good in any emergency".

Shackleton's Hut, Cape Royds, taken from Wikipedia

The geographic South Pole was finally reached on 14th December, 1911 by a party lead by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen. Armytage however, did not live to learn of the party's achievement.
After returning from the failed Nimrod Expedition and being feted in both London and Melbourne, he applied for a position with the War Office in London but was unsuccessful. Upon returning to Melbourne, it is believed that his thwarted ambitions may have lead to his suicide on 12th March, 1910. At the time of his death, his wife (related by marriage to the well-known Chirnside family) and young daughter were in London.
In 1920 his mother established the "Bertram Armytage Prize" with a grant of £500 in his memory. The prize is awarded annually in the field of medical science at Melbourne University.

NB: details of Armytage's journey around the bay were taken from an article published in The Argus, 2nd March, 1907.

Lunch at "the break"

"The second break in the Barwon River." This was the Google Images search which greeted me as I took a quick glance at my stats page before starting this post.
I am guessing that someone was looking for pictures of the lower breakwater. I hope they found the first of my kayaking posts from earlier this month, but as it happens, I can add to the collection after another paddle down the river today. In fact, I stopped at the lower break for lunch before heading back to the upper breakwater to catch a ride home.
But first things first. I hit the water just near the Geelong Water Ski Club at the end of Wilsons Road in St. Albans Park and headed downriver, hoping to get a better idea of where that 19th century picnic spot "The Willows" was and also to see if I could access Reedy Lake.
Assuming my reasoning as outlined in my post The Willows is correct, then I was successful in my first endeavour and now have some photos to show for my efforts:

Thicket of elms at the possible site of The Willows, looking upstream

The above shot shows a thicket of elm trees, clearly non-native and well-established. There are no willows to be seen anymore anywhere along this stretch of river or even signs that the area may have been used for picnics and camping. Nor is there any sign of the "cutting" described by James Lister Cuthbertson in his description of The Willows, where the Grammar boys ran the boats up onto the bank.

Thicket of elms looking downriver towards The Willows

In fact the only place I could conveniently get out of the water to have a look around was several hundred metres away....maybe next time.
And so I paddled on. My next aim was to see if I could get inside Reedy Lake for a look around, however I soon discovered that the channel which connects the lake to the river is not designed for boat access.

Channel to Reedy Lake

None-the-less, it is a rather pretty part of the river with farmland on one side and high reeds interspersed with gum trees obscuring any sight of the lake on the other.

Looking downriver, about 2.5km below Wilsons Road

My next stop was the lower breakwater where I hauled myself and the "yak" out of the water, took a few photos and had some lunch at which time a decision had to be made. The weather was mild but increasing winds were forecast for later in the afternoon so I decided to leave a paddle around Lake Connewarre for another occasion and head back upriver.

Above the lower breakwater

Below the lower breakwater

As on at least three other occasions, the trip upstream was wind-assisted and therefore easier than the trip down.
At one point as I drifted quietly near the bank I became aware that I was not alone. As they often do, a number of carp were cruising along the bank looking for food. They were quite confident - provided I didn't move much - and were happily snapping up the grass seeds (we used to call them fairies) which were floating on the surface of the water.

A carp eating a "fairy"

A carp stalking a seed

After spending a bit of time stalking the carp, I got moving again, sloshing my way through the wake of several power boats at the water ski club until I reached quieter waters (and a patch of waterlilies) near "Greenbanks" on the Marshall side of the river.

"Greenbanks"

From there it was an uneventful paddle round the bend to Breakwater and a quick ride home. Not a bad day's paddling and my first solo expedition.



Yellow waterlily

The new toy

Yesterday we finally had the chance to put our new toys to the test on the Barwon in perfect summer conditions - the kayaks we bought Sarah and me for Christmas. We'd had a couple of trial runs on Swan Bay while we were away but this was our first chance to get out on the river.

Sarah on the Barwon

My intention was not only to get a different perspective on the river, but to see those stretches which I can't access from the bank. I'm dying to know what I've been missing!
So, with Peter on hand to lug kayaks and do pick ups, we hit the river at Breakwater and headed downstream, behind the businesses along Tucker Street and out through the farms in Marshall.

Farm machinery on the riverbank at Marshall

We headed past a few of the remnant willows and 19th century chimneys of the tanneries which featured in some of my earliest posts.
In the reeds on the Marshall bank I spotted a fox which had emerged via track it had clearly used before to drink at the river. Predictably, it froze and watched us closely as I extracted the camera and then with perfect timing disappeared back amongst the reeds the second I attempted to take a shot.

The aqueduct and Goat Island

Next we had the opportunity to see the aqueduct and Goat Island from midstream before heading around the bend towards Wilsons Road. As we paddled this stretch of the river, I was very mindful that in the days of James Lister Cuthbertson and the boys from Grammar and College this was known as the "Long Reach", a broad, straight stretch used for informal races and training which I discussed in my post The Willows.

Looking down the Long Reach

I suspect that were the boys of the 19th century to visit the Long Reach today, they would find it somewhat changed. Many of the exotic plantings which lined the banks at this time have been removed and the Australian Tannery which Cuthbertson mentions is no more than a low bluestone wall as viewed from the river. Since 1961, the reach itself has been home to the Geelong Water Ski Club who have clubrooms at the end of Wilsons Road and the weather being what it was, there were two boat-owners who had taken the opportunity to get out on the water.
Sticking close to the bank and riding out the backwash, we paddled on into quieter waters, headed for Reedy Lake. I would love to say that as we rounded the bend, all was revealed and the location of The Willows camp which I spent so much time trying to locate became immediately obvious, however this was not the case. The river narrows at this point and in places there were some stands of non-indigenous trees such as cypress overhanging the river, but no willows and no obvious point at which to camp. Nor was it easy from this point to get my bearings with respect to the outside world (so-to-speak) in order to take a guess at the likely location.

Passing through Reedy Lake surrounded by a sea of Fairy Martins flitting around overhead

The river channel is quite defined and so tall are the reeds that it was difficult to tell where the boundaries of Reedy Lake were (they don't call it that for nothing!), however when we arrived at the lower breakwater some 3km further downstream, there was no doubting our location. What was not so clear was how we were to navigate the obstacle in question. The lower break is quite different to that at Breakwater and the water level seemed significantly deeper. Fortunately, Sarah soon spotted a break in the reeds on the south bank where other paddlers had addressed the problem and we were able (albeit up to our knees in mud) to drag the kayaks out and round and then drop them back in the river on the other side.
I took the opportunity whilst on land to arrange our pick up from Tait's Point and to grab a few shots of the lower break before we hit the water for our final leg.

The lower breakwater in Reedy Lake

Whilst the weather was perfect and "Cuthy" spins a charming picture of crews rowing under the twinkling stars, I wasn't keen to navigate my way across Lake Connewarre in darkness, so, with the sun threatening to disappear and an uncertain distance remaining we kept moving.

Gates used to control the flow of water through the break

The first thing we noticed about the river below this second break were the large numbers of dead carp lining both sides of the waterway. A quick Google search turned up a detailed discussion on the management of the complex of lakes and swamps which rely on inflow from the Barwon and recognised  the need to control carp but did not explain what we were seeing, so I am still unsure whether such numbers of dead carp are normal or the result of some "event".

Sunset below the break

Like most of the rest of the channel through Reedy Lake we were hemmed in on both sides by reeds which limited our view of the surrounding land/water until, about half an hour later, we emerged into the tip of Lake Connewarre in time to see the sun setting over Geelong and our ride home pulling up at the boat ramp.

The tip of Lake Connewarre with the outskirts of Geelong on the skyline

Within a few minutes we had made the short trip across to the opposite side of the lake, had a brief chat to a pair of fishermen making the most of the weather, loaded up and made the somewhat longer journey home. All up, we covered about 11km in the boats during a comfortable 3 1/2 hour paddle, a distance by my calculations, a little over 3km shorter than the trip home by road.
The only question now, is which bit to explore next?

The Willows

As promised, in this post I intend to pinpoint as closely as possible the location of the camping spot on the Barwon known as The Willows which was so beloved of Geelong Grammar in the 19th century as well as being popular with both the wider community and Grammar's long-time rival, Geelong College.
Part of the problem with trying to locate the spot was simply the extensive number of willows which were planted along the banks of the river during the 19th and early 20th centuries. And these weren't just incidental plantings by individuals but rather, were introduced as part of civic beautification programs and - ironically - to control bank erosion across an extended time period.


Willow on the river bank below Barwon Grange

By the 1930s however, there were problems in some parts of the river and money was being provided by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission to clear the willows from the upper reaches of the Barwon where they were clogging the flow. By contrast, downstream at Geelong and beyond, willows were still being planted. On 19th February, 1934 the Geelong Advertiser reported that recent plantings of willow had taken well and were now 6 ft high.  Then again, articles such as The Tragedy of the Barwon which appeared in The Argus of 14th May, 1949 highlighted the problem with willows.
But in the latter half of the 19th century when the boys from Grammar and College were honing their rowing skills on the lower reaches of the Barwon or whiling away their weekends around a campfire under the drooping branches, there was little concept of the problems ahead.
All of this meant that pinning down the precise location of a campsite simply known as The Willows was not exactly an easy process, but here is what I found:
The publication Light Blue Down Under: The History of Geelong Grammar School by Weston Bate made the following statement:

On the river their favourite breakfast place was The Willows, 8 kilometres downstream past the Barwon Breakwater, called simply 'the break'.



Willows and other exotic plantings immediately below the breakwater and the
 remnant chimney belonging to the "Willows" fellmongery of Dan Fowler

The Illustrated Heritage Guide to the Geelong College noted that:

The Willows was the name of a popular picnicking location on the Barwon River six miles downriver from the boat shed.

A little plotting using Google Earth showed me that - assuming the course of the river has not changed significantly in the intervening years - the two distances mentioned are only a few hundred metres apart...in the middle of Reedy Lake. Possible perhaps as there seem to be some areas not completely waterlogged, but unlikely as this was a publicly accessible picnic ground.
By contrast, many of the indirect references I located, pointed to the site being on the north bank of the river near Wilsons or Coppards Road, perhaps on the bend which is located between the two. My reasoning in thinking this was firstly, the place names mentioned in the poem Anabasis of the Alice by James Lister Cuthbertson which I mentioned in a previous post and I quote:

No check, no stay at The Willows

That redden in tender bloom,

But forward - and St Albans

Fades in the river gloom;

The crew in the poem are rowing from Barwon Heads to the school boat shed in town. An earlier part of the poem sees them enter Reedy Lake and then race another crew before rowing past The Willows and then 'St Albans', the stud built in 1873 for James Wilson, the famous racehorse trainer. His poem "Easy All" refers to cows grazing in nearby fields and "A Lament For The Willows" declaims:

No more do the thoroughbreds cluster

And stand in the cool of the shade,

To dream of the Flemington muster...

'St Albans' Homestead from Boundary Road

This surely refers to the bloodstock at St Albans Stud and is consistent with the following passage from the Church of England Grammar School Geelong History and register 1907 which states:

From Goat Island to the Willows the river is at its broadest and best; indeed, half-a-dozen eights could row abreast on the magnificent Long Reach, with its willow bordered shore....But what need of words: the Willows are the Willows, and for ever enshrined in the hearts of all true Grammar School Boys, who, one and all, feel to the successive proprietors of St Albans a deep debt of gratitude for allowing them, in Bean Lean's language "wood and water".

View downriver from the end of Boundary Road

Next, I found a newspaper report from September, 1903 detailing the accidental drowning of an 8 year old boy - incidentally a student at Geelong Grammar - who was on a boating excursion with the school at The Willows. The article refers to the event having occurred near the Geelong Racecourse which at that time as GC Magazine noted and I quoted in my previous post was:

on Barwon River flats off Tannery Road on the opposite banks to the end of Wilsons Road.

So, The Willows was on St Albans land near the Geelong Racecourse and I figured that "the magnificent Long Reach" between Goat Island (the small island over which the aqueduct passes) and The Willows was the broad, straight stretch of the river extending from somewhere downstream of Boundary Road to a bend about halfway between Wilsons and Coppards Road.

Looking up the "Long Reach" from Wilsons Road

Then, finally,  on the History of Australian Rowing website, I stumbled across an online version of Karen Threlfall's Fair Play and Hard Rowing: A History of The Barwon Rowing Club 1870-1990. On pages 3 and 4 of Chapter 4 is an extended description of a rowing excursion to Barwon Heads written (of course) by Cuthbertson. In it, is the following passage:

...and soon running beyond Goat Island and the bend, which leads to the Long Reach. At this point the river is wide enough to row six eights abreast and for a mile and a quarter runs quite straight. The view from off the Australian tannery is very fine, right ahead lies the long stretch of bright blue water, terminating in picturesque clumps of withered yellow reeds, crowned with the pale green lines of the willows, which are now in the glory of their spring foliage. Coming down to the end of the reach, the boat travels opposite the side of Mr Crozier's splendidly grassed paddocks, which are here bordered for half a mile by willows. We run our boat up the cutting, at the end of the paddock, and get out for breakfast at the spot which is so well known and liked by Grammar School boys. We collect large bundles of dried lignum branches, boil our billy, cook our chops, and make coffee of a most satisfactory description. Could anyone wish for a better camp?

Now, it didn't take long to ascertain that "Mr Crozier" was John Crozier, owner of 'St Albans' subsequent to James Wilson. Well that fitted.  A few more quick measurements on Google Earth and I came up with a location which was at the bottom of Coppards Road almost exactly where I guessed from Cuthy's poems and some of the other sources.

Probable location of The Willows. Click to enlarge

Well, that solved that problem. I still have no explanation for the two sources suggesting that the site was some 2 to 3km further downstream in Reedy Lake, but am reasonably confident that I now have the right spot. The next problem however, is taking some photos. I know that Coppards Road runs into the lake, about 1km short of the river channel. I don't currently have a kayak, so an on river approach isn't appealing, which leaves a stroll of just over 1.5km across private land...
I'll keep you posted...

The River Poet

I guess that not too many Australian rivers can boast of having their own poet, however during a recent search to see what - if any - poetry had been written about the Barwon, I was surprised to discover, not just the odd ditty, but an entire book of verse titled Barwon Ballads and School Verses.
The author of these lyrical tributes was of course, none other than James Lister Cuthbertson whom I discussed to some extent in my previous two posts: The old Light Blue and The school of the Barwon. In brief, he was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1851 and arrived in Australia in 1875 where he took up the position of Master of Classics at Geelong Grammar School. He soon established a close relationship both with the headmaster John Bracebridge Wilson and with the boys under his care.


James Lister Cuthbertson taken from Barwon
Ballads and School Verses, 1912

Amongst the various legacies he left to the school was the precursor of the Corian, the school's annual magazine. He was a regular contributor both during his time as a teacher and after, signing his pieces as "C". Another lasting legacy was the introduction of the house system, along which lines the school is still largely organised to the present day. Inter-house music, debating and in particular sports competitions are stalwarts of the school curriculum. But even prior to this, in Cuthbertson's day, the Grammar boys were encouraged to participate in outdoor activities and "Cuthy" himself was a more than willing participant in this part of the curriculum. His love of rowing, hiking, camping and the outdoors was frequently expressed in his poetry and much of this also reflected the time he spent on the Barwon:

 

Which camp is best, taken from Barwon Ballads and School Verses, 1912

The above poem describes the various camping spots used by the the school (and others, including Geelong College), between Fyansford and Barwon Heads and is typical of the way he described the river and the surrounding countryside. His verse generally reflected the 19th century public school values of the day and much of his description of the Australian countryside could equally be applied to his Scottish homeland. One of his favourite camping spots and a recurring theme in his poetry was a place known as The Willows, which was (as mentioned in the previous post) in the vicinity of the Saint Albans Homestead. Whilst today's view of willows along Australian waterways is anything but flattering, the citizens of the 19th century saw them very differently.

And yet despite the English cliches, he also showed a great appreciation for his odd antipodean surroundings. He repeatedly referred to gum trees, ti tree and in particular, the golden blooms of the wattle trees. He also showed an acute sense of humour and a degree of local knowledge, when in discussing the "joys" of camping he noted "mosquitoes that bite like a dog".

On numerous occasions he described extended excursions to Barwon Heads and back with crews rowing into the night or starting out well before dawn. His poem The Anabasis of the Alice is a good example. In fact, he often gave the name of the boats crewed by the boys. There was the Cleopatra, the Iris, the Daphne, the Argo and of course the Alice which was mentioned on more than one occasion and even carried the crew of '89 to victory in the Head of the River - held that year on the Yarra.

But beneath all the eloquent words and the tales of sporting prowess, Cuthbertson was a troubled man. He was a homosexual working in a boys' boarding school in an era when being gay was a crime. I can find no public suggestion of impropriety of any sort either then or now. The introduction to the posthumous publication of "Barwon Ballads" says only that "little has been said of Cuthbertson's relations to the school in which he spent so large a part of his life. This is a matter that belongs to the school, and finds its appropriate place in the school records; but for the general public it has little concern".

Of course, Wikipedia is not so constrained and describes his battle with alcoholism, noting that the boys were assigned to look after him when he was incapable of doing so himself. This was known as "Cuthy duty". Whilst his friend John Bracebridge Wilson was headmaster, he enjoyed a relatively protected position and was even promoted to acting headmaster upon Bracebridge Wilson's death, however it appears that the new headmaster Leonard Hartford Lindon was not so tolerant and as I mentioned previously, Cuthbertson soon departed.

He spent his retirement, after a brief return to England, first in Geelong and then in the Melbourne suburb of Cheltenham. He spent holidays travelling to Queensland, fishing in South Australia and writing. Throughout the rest of his life he maintained his connection to the:

 

"...fair school, that in our hearts is queen,

With purpling ivy mounting o'er its tower..."

 

Geelong Grammar School, view from Maud Street, 1895. Image held by the
Victorian State Library

And this view of the south face of the school taken in 1895, less than a year before his departure was probably what Cuthbertson had in mind when he penned the following short verse:

 

THE SOUTHERN WALL

Strong tendrils of the ivy plants

That mantle on our wall of gray,

That brighten as the sunlight slants

Across the hills at dying day,

You image well the hearts of those

Our sons who do not break or bend,

But fight until the battle-close,

And die or triumph in the end.

 

Cuthbertson spent about 15 years in retirement before his sudden death on 18th January, 1910 as a result of an overdose of the barbiturate Veronal - a sleeping aid. At the time he was staying with a friend in Mount Gambier.
Four years after Cuthbertson's death in 1914 when Grammar moved to its present site in Corio, one of the newly opened boys boarding houses was given his name. Cuthbertson House or "Cuthy" as it is known stands overlooking the ovals and Limeburner's Lagoon as a lasting tribute to one of the school's most influential masters.

Cuthbertson House, Geelong Grammar School. November 2012

Cuthbertson House foundation stone, November 2012

For those interested in reading more of Cuthbertson's Barwon Ballads and School Verses the book can be downloaded in PDF and a variey of other formats or read online through the California Digital Library here.



"The school of the Barwon"

In my previous post, I looked at the early days of Geelong Grammar and at the old school building in Maud Street, Geelong. Aside from its relative proximity to the Barwon and the probable use of bluestone from quarries along the river in its construction, the school has close historical ties to the river which date back formally to 1870 when boys from the school took up rowing. In these early years, they made use of the Barwon Rowing Club's boats, honing their skills in preparation for taking on the best that the Melbourne public Schools had to offer. In 1873 and realising the talent amongst the school boy rowers, Barwon held scratch four races in which both Grammar and Geelong College took part with Grammar winning the event which did not go unremarked in the newspapers of the day.

The current crop: a Grammar crew on the Barwon January, 2012

In 1874 Grammar formally established its own rowing club and bought its first boat. The following year saw the arrival at the school of James Lister Cuthbertson - a master who would come to define rowing at Geelong Grammar and significantly influence the Victorian School Boys Head of the River - the longest-running school boy rowing event in the world. The Head of the River dates back to 1868 and was first held, not on the Barwon, but on the Yarra River between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College in Melbourne.
Geelong first competed against the Melbourne schools in 1874 but did not contest the Head of the River until the following year. It was another three years before they took home the title, winning for the first time in 1878. These early races were all held on the Yarra River in Melbourne, however in 1879, following Grammar's win the previous year, the race was held for the first time on the Barwon River in Geelong. From this time the race moved back and forth between the Barwon and the Yarra until 1948 when it moved permanently to Geelong. This continued until 2001 when the race moved to the Olympic standard course at Nagambie.
Until 1900, the Head of the River was contested by coxed fours in boats of varying styles (for details see Wikipedia), however after this date the race was contested by crews of eight. This would have been well received by Cuthbertson who spent much of his 20 year teaching career at Grammar, lobbying the collective headmasters of the public schools for just such a move.

Grammar crew on a very rainy Barwon. Training isn't always sunshine and picnics

Hired by the school in 1875 "Cuthy" was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1851. He studied for the Indian Civil Service at Oxford but had a change of career plan when he failed one of the required exams. Possibly encouraged by the fact that his father managed the Bank of South Australia in Adelaide for a time, he came to Australia where he took up the position of master of classics at Geelong Grammar. He returned to England in 1882 to complete his degree at Oxford which he did in 1885 and then returned to resume his position at Grammar.
In addition to his academic duties, Cuthbertson enjoyed the outdoors and was a keen bushwalker, often spending his weekends taking groups of boys hiking at Mt Moriac, the You Yangs or the place he spent the most time - the Barwon.
During rowing season he would often head out on a Friday with a crew of four or eight boys and they would row downstream, sometimes staying over night at one of several popular camping spots such as The Willows (which as far as I can tell was on the river in the vicinity of the St Albans Homestead), Campbell's Point (extends prominently into Lake Connewarre from the north bank), Cormorant (can't pin this one down, but would guess downstream of Campbell's Point) or at Barwon Heads. Once at the Heads, Saturday would be spent lazing on the beach or hiking in the surrounding area before the long pull back upstream to Geelong. It was perhaps these extended training sessions along with Cuthbertson's passionate interest in rowing and in his students which saw Grammar become the strongest school in the APS between the years of 1878 and 1895, winning the Head of the River no less than 12 times in this 18 year period including a run of six consecutive wins between 1885 and 1890.

Looking towards Campbell's Point (right) from Ash Road, Leopold

Following the death in 1895 of his much respected colleague and headmaster, John Bracebridge Wilson, Cuthbertson acted as principal for the remainder of the year. A new appointment was made early in 1896 but it soon became clear that he would not enjoy the same relationship with the new principal that he had with Bracebridge Wilson and he agreed to leave, however he maintained close ties with the school until his death in 1910.
To the present date, Geelong Grammar has won the Head of the River no less than 33 times, a record surpassed only by Scotch College who have held the title on 40 occasions and are the current champions.
James Lister Cuthbertson is remembered today by the school primarily in the senior boys boarding house at the Corio campus which bears his name and in the Cuthbertson Health and Wellbeing Centre, but he was also, a poet of note whose published works are contained in the volume "Barwon Ballads and School Verses." Some of those verses will be the subject of my next post.

The old Light Blue

The next couple of posts I intend to write are of interest to me for several different reasons, not least of which is that they closely involve my alma mater - Geelong Grammar. Not however, the Grammar of today, spread far and wide across Geelong and the state of Victoria, but rather Grammar in its earliest days as a school.
Initially catering to only 14 boys, the Geelong Church of England Grammar School was established in 1855 in Villamanta Street, Geelong West with the support of the then Bishop of Melbourne, The Rt Rev. C. Perry. The following year it moved to Knowle House in Skene Street, Newtown before relocating once again in 1858 to its purpose-built campus in central Geelong.  The new school and its grounds were located on the block of land bounded by McKillop Street to the north, Maud Street to the south and Moorabool and Yarra Streets to the west and east respectively - perfectly situated on a ridge line overlooking Corio Bay to the north and the Barwon River to the south. The town centre was nearby with both the bay and the river providing easy access to a variety of sporting and recreational activities - an aspect of education which the school has always considered an important addition to academic pursuits.


Geelong Grammar School, 1862 showing the front entrance facing
Moorabool Street. Image held by the Victorian State Library

And they did not take long to take advantage of the river's proximity when in 1870 boys began rowing with the Barwon Rowing Club. By 1874 the school had established its own rowing club on the banks of the Barwon and before long were competing with the best.
The school building itself was built by the architect firm of Backhouse and Reynolds in 1857 whose design won a competition for the contract. The brief for the building was that it must cater for 525 pupils and include a residence for the headmaster.  Their building was a quadrangular construction in the Tudor Gothic revival style with the master's quarters contained in the south wing and amenities located in the east. A single story wing faced north with the main entrance off Moorabool Street.
The building is repeatedly described as bluestone and concrete-rendered, however the picture above and another from about 1914 appear to show a bluestone finish with sandstone dressings on the north wing, rather than a rendered finish. By contrast the sections of the building which remain today (the south and east wings) are definitely concrete-rendered. Whether only part of the building was rendered or this was added later, I don't know.
Also unknown (by me) are the origins of the building materials used to construct the school. This is somewhat of a contrast to many of the historic buildings around Geelong and along the Barwon, however given the date of construction and the sourcing of materials for other buildings from this period, I would hazard a guess that the bluestone was quite quarried somewhere along the Barwon.

This image of the school taken some time after 1914 also appears to show
bluestone with dressed sandstone on the north wing. Image held by the
Victorian State Library

 Like much of the original building, the first occupants are long gone. The first headmaster was the Rev. George Oakley Vance who resigned in 1860 when the school closed as a result of funding issues. It had only been in its new premises for two years, however one of the masters - John Bracebridge Wilson - who had joined the staff in 1858 managed to keep the student body together, teaching 40 students in rented premises until, in 1863 with 58 day students, 2 boarders and Bracebridge Wilson as its principal, the school reopened at its McKillop Street campus as the grammar school. Presumably to avoid a repeat of earlier problems, the new-look Grammar saw a number of changes. A restructuring took place which also included the drawing up of a new constitution. This change in direction was driven by a new group of trustees including prominent Western District names such as Chirnside, Armytage and Manifold as well as that noted Geelong citizen and owner of Sladen House - Sir Charles Sladen.
Over the latter half of the 19th century, the school continued to build its reputation and by 1911 had outgrown the Moorabool Street campus. The decision was taken to sell both this campus and land which had previously been earmarked as a potential school site in Belmont and move to 400 acres of land on the banks of Limeburner's Bay in Corio.
The move took place in 1914 and the old building and grounds were sold to the Geelong City Council who had planned to use the building as a town hall - a plan which never came to fruition. Over the following years, the grounds were gradually subdivided and sold and in 1916 the west wing which included the main entrance was demolished. The north wing and quadrangle area were put to use as a factory whilst the remaining south and east wings became the private hotel called Dysart.

The remaining south wing of the school (facing Maud Street) in 1930 known as
the hotel Dysart. Image held by the Victorian State Library

In 1954 the building was sold once again, this time returning to its educational roots, when it became the Reformed Theological College, in which capacity it still operated in 1986 when I sat my HSC German oral exam in the building.
According to the Victorian Heritage Database, the north wing was demolished in about 1960, leaving only the east and south wings which the Theological College occupied until 1999 when they relocated to another former Geelong Grammar campus at Highton.
This remaining section of the building comprises 47 rooms including three bathrooms, a large kitchen as well as living and dining rooms. After the departure of the Theological College, it was sold once again, passing through the hands of a number of private owners before most recently being put on the market in June, 2011 by its owner of ten years, Norm Lyons - a local businessman.

The former Geelong Grammar in October, 2012

The sale of the property finally took place in May, 2012 and settlement is due to occur some time within the next few weeks (November, 2012). The buyer is an undisclosed local investor who, the agent stated, plans to renovate the property and continue its use as a private residence. A subsequent article in the Geelong Independent of 7th September suggested the building will be developed into student apartments. The sale price was undisclosed but is believed to be somewhere in the vicinity of $2.45 million.

Going once! Going twice! Going three times! Sold!